Category Archives: Plastic Product Manufacturing

When it comes to plastic prototype development or plastic product manufacturing, it is useful to understand which material to use. Typically, there are two types of plastic materials: thermoplastic and thermosetting resin.

Thermoplastic materials are those that can be melted and cured (hardening the polymer material) again and again. There is, of course, a limit to the number of times such melting and curing process can be repeated, depending on the type of thermoplastic material. The point, however, is that such thermoplastic materials can be melted a number of times without degrading the material.

Thermosetting materials, on the other hand, are those that can be melted and shaped only once. After a thermosetting material is cured, trying to melt it again would cause the material to burn, rather than melt. Think of a 2-part epoxy to understand a thermosetting material. Before mixing with the hardener, the epoxy resin is in the liquid state. Once the resin is mixed and dried, it is not possible to heat and melt it again.

When it comes to plastic injection molding, it is easy to misjudge the importance of thermoplastic and thermosetting materials. By the way, both thermoplastic and thermosetting materials can be injection molded. The major difference, when using a thermoplastic or thermosetting material, applies after the injection molding cycle when the molded plastic solidifies. During the molding process, plastic is heated and injected into a metal mold. To get to the cavity of the metal mold, however, the molten plastic first needs to pass through an array of entry points and tunnels known as sprues, runners, and gates. The plastic cools within the mold cavity as well as inside the channels that lead to the mold cavity. The plastic that solidifies inside the channels is not the component or part of the final product. It is just a waste.

Now, what happens to the “waste” during plastic injection molding?

Thermoplastic Materials

If a thermoplastic material were used for injection molding, the waste could be recycled and used again. The solid plastic left within the sprues, runners and gates can be combined with the raw material that goes into the injection molding machine. The same thing can happen with the material from rejected plastic parts. All the waste plastic can be collected and recycled back to the onset of the process. This all sums up into higher efficiency, and eventually means, lower costs of the final product and better margin for the producer.

Thermosetting Materials

If a thermosetting material were used for injection molding, the solid plastic from the sprues, runners, and gates is simply a waste, which has no practical use whatsoever. This means that the cost of the final product will be more.

To conclude, thermoplastic materials offer some major benefits to plastic product manufacturers, consumers, and even the society, as such materials are recyclable. Indeed, when it comes to plastic prototype development or plastic product manufacturing, the manufacturer should choose and use thermoplastic materials.

At GID Development Corporation, along with top-quality product design, rapid prototyping, and product development, we provide high-class plastic product manufacturing services. We are an efficient product development company in California, USA, and provide a comprehensive service so that our clients can take their inventions, to the market easily. To ensure efficient bulk production of the novel inventions, which we help create with our product design, product prototyping, and product development services, we employ popular plastic product manufacturing techniques.

One important aspect that every industrial designer and mechanical engineer should consider is the selection of the right product manufacturing process. For product development, there are many manufacturing processes that engineers can utilize; however, choosing the right one can greatly affect the cost of manufacturing as well as the success of the final product. Here is a brief on some of the most common plastic product manufacturing and metal product manufacturing processes.

Plastic Product Manufacturing Processes

For the sake of this discussion, let us assume that you need to make at least 10,000 parts. For less quantity, rapid prototyping or 3D printing processes are more appropriate and economical.

Injection Molding: Plastic injection molding is the most preferred process that produces parts and components with the lowest cost per part. The process is ideal for moderately-sized production runs. The production tooling cost is a bit of concern, especially if you do not have a definitive mold for the plastic part. Nevertheless, you can use aluminum molds until you get the definitive mold design. Once you have the definitive mold design, you can shift to stainless steel molds, which are durable and suitable for a high-volume production.

CNC Machining: Computer numerical control machining or just CNC machining is the process in which computers play a big role in controlling the CNC machines like mills, plasma cutters, drills, etc. CNC machining is an ideal process to employ for small-sized production runs for small parts. The process allows precision and good surface finish too. The drawback of CNC machining is the high costs. Nevertheless, CNC machining offers automation, which eliminates manual labor and errors caused by manual laborers.

Rotational Molding: Rotational molding is an appropriate plastic product manufacturing process to produce soft, rubbery parts. Both simple and complex parts can be produced using rotational molding. It also helps produce several pieces of a single part, which can then be assembled together. This eliminates overall fabrication costs. Rotational molding also eliminates significant wastage of material. The drawback of this process is it does not facilitate precision. And just like plastic injection molding, the production tooling cost is a concern.

Thermoforming: Thermoforming is a suitable process to manufacture large plastic parts. The production tooling cost is lower than other plastic product manufacturing processes. The production time is also lower. The disadvantage of thermoforming is that it does not offer precision. Intricate shapes and good surface finish are also hard to achieve with thermoforming.

Metal Product Manufacturing Processes

Metal product manufacturing is more expensive than plastic product manufacturing because metals are more costly than plastic materials. It is possible to rapid prototype or 3D print some metal parts, but it will prove uneconomical.

CNC Machining: Aside from the plastic parts, with CNC machining, it is possible to produce metal parts. Thanks to computers, playing a role in controlling CNC machines, the process is appropriate for making complex parts. Precision is easy to achieve with CNC machining. The drawback of CNC machining is the high costs, even for producing small parts.

Die Casting: Die casting is a suitable metal product manufacturing process to produce metal parts with high dimensional accuracy and smooth surface finish. The process facilitates rapid production rates. The per part cost is also lower than other metal manufacturing processes. The drawback, however, is the high production tooling cost – perhaps it has the highest tooling cost.

Investment Casting: One of the oldest processes, investment casting is appropriate to manufacture complex parts with a very smooth surface. The process also offers exceptional dimensional accuracy. The drawback, aside from the cost, is the long production-cycle times. For high-volume manufacturing, the process could prove to be expensive and infeasible.

Sand Casting: Sand casting is one of the most popular processes to produce small and complex metal parts. Instead of metal molds, this process utilizes sand molds. This substantially reduces the cost. With sand casting, it is possible to achieve high dimensional accuracy. The process is suitable for low to medium production runs, but for high volumes, it will prove to be infeasible.

Aside from these processes, there are many other plastic product manufacturing processes and metal product manufacturing processes. Choosing the right one will affect the cost of manufacturing and the success of the final product.

Looking for a good plastic product manufacturer in California? Look no further than GID Development Corporation. A product development company, based in California, GID Development Corporation provides exceptional product design, product prototyping, plastic product manufacturing, 3D printing and other services. With their experience and expertise in injection molding, CNC machining and other processes, the professional industrial and mechanical engineers at GID Development Corporation can help you develop exceptional new products.

Whether it is a complex electromechanical product or a simple medical device product, GID Development Corporation can “GET IT DONE!” To learn more, get in touch at http://www.gidcompany.com/.

Have any queries regarding plastic product manufacturing? Just call Patrick at 714.528.2482 between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST, for a FREE 15-minute telephonic conference. He will answer to various questions regarding plastic product manufacturing and rapid prototyping.

Partnering with a plastic product manufacturer is a good idea. Partnering with a plastic product manufacturer who specializes in the plastic injection molding process is even a better idea! Plastic injection molding is a remarkably versatile procedure of manufacturing new products and their parts. Most plastic product manufacturers utilize this procedure because it has multiple benefits over other procedures of plastic molding. Plastic injection molding is not only simpler and reliable, but it is also exceptionally efficient. For new product development, utilizing this procedure is worth considering.

Here are the benefits of using plastic injection molding for manufacturing new products and their parts or components:

Design Flexibility

The injection molding process involves high-pressure injection or thrust of raw material, i.e., plastic, metal, rubber, etc. into a mold. Due to the high pressure, the material is pressed harder into the mold. Because the material is pressed harder, it is possible to add considerable details in the design of a part or product.

The high-pressure injection that this process utilizes also enables the creation of complex and tricky shapes. The other methods would fail or prove inefficient and too expensive to create complex-shaped parts or products. Therefore, compared to all other molding methods, plastic injection molding offers better design flexibility.

Efficiency

Once the precise mold has been designed as per the required specification and the injection molding machine set, the actual molding process is swift in contrast to other molding methods. Owing to its swiftness, more parts or components can be manufactured, in less time. This aspect of plastic injection molding makes it a cost-effective and highly efficient option for manufacturing plastic parts and components.

Strength Enhancement

Plastic injection molding allows the use of different fillers in the mold. These fillers, which could be silica, calcium carbonate, clay, glass, mica, alumina trihydrate, or any other minerals, can increase the stiffness and hardness as well as strength and heat resistance of the plastic parts. Other molding methods would not allow the use of such fillers; hence, when there is a need for strong and durable plastic parts, plastic injection molding offers a viable option.

Allows the Simultaneous Use of Different Plastic Types

One remarkable benefit of using plastic injection molding for making parts and components is the ability to use different thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers concurrently. This is possible through co-injection technology. Using different types of polymers together reduces the material cost. It also helps alter the density, elasticity as well as color, texture and mechanical properties of the plastic parts.

Automated Manufacturing

The process of plastic injection molding is automated. Most of the plastic injection molding processes are carried out by machines and even robots. This eliminates manual labor involvement, and so, significantly reduces mass manufacturing costs. Automated manufacturing also reduces inaccuracies; hence, the waste is reduced, and the quality products are manufactured.

If you are looking for a reliable plastic product manufacturer in California, who specializes in plastic injection molding and can help you develop new products, the GID Development Corporation is worth considering. A product design company in California, GID Development Corporation provides exceptional product design, product prototyping, product development, plastic product manufacturing, and other product fulfillment services.

Currently, GID Development Corporation is offering a FREE 15-minute telephonic conference, where an industrial expert will answer to various plastic product manufacturing-related questions. Justcall Patrick at 714.528.2482 between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST.

If you are dealing in plastic products or parts, then it’s not mandatory that you manufacture those parts or products on your own. You can hire a plastic product manufacturing company to design and develop custom plastic parts for optimum functioning of your business. There are product development companies in the United States and beyond the borders of the United states to help inventors and businesses with what they require and how much they require.

However, not all the product manufacturing companies are reliable and professional when it comes to manufacturing plastic products from scratch. It will be in your favor if you choose a plastic product manufacturer with adequate experience, workforce and technology to transform your idea into a money making product. Here are a few tips to help you find a plastic product manufacturing company that will fulfill your budding plastic parts demand.

If you are a startup, then it is advisable that you focus on the type of materials the company uses. Every product development company is different from each other, similarly not all plastic product manufacturers are going to make use of all types of raw materials to develop plastic products. Some manufacturing companies may possess expertise in creating plastic products using raw materials such as polyurethanes, whereas other may prefer polyethylene terephthalate, polyamides (nylon), polyvinyl chloride, etc. to develop new plastic products. Every raw material has its own characteristics, each suitable for specific purpose; hence, partner with a company that is able to recommend and handle the specific plastic material that you want for your parts or products.

There are some plastic product development companies that offer additional services to help inventors. The supplementary services can help you overcome any unwanted product development blunders. Some product manufacturing companies may also assist with rapid prototyping to help you test the feasibility of the concept. Partnering such versatile product development company can be worthwhile for you.

Whether you are a startup, a mid-sized business or a big brand with international presence, teaming up with a reliable plastic product manufacturing company procures tons of benefits for you. These include plastic products for vivid industries such as agriculture, transportation, medical, sports equipment, automotive, and retail to name a few.

If you are in search of a reliable plastic product manufacturing company in the United States, then the GID Development Corporation is worth considering. Propelled ahead by the team of the most skilled and experienced industry professionals, GID offers exceptional designing services, prototyping, manufacturing, and services in between. CallPatrick at 714.528.2482 8am – 5pm PST for a free consultation.

All those businesses that use plastic parts are not necessarily going to manufacture them on their own. They need to go to a plastic product manufacturing company to source their plastic products need. The plastic product manufacturing companies can provide inventors and businesses what they want, but there are many companies established, and not all of them are same. It will be in your best interest to make a wise choice when it comes to choosing a plastic product manufacturer. Here are a few tips, which can help you choose a reliable plastic manufacturing company that will cater to your plastic parts demand.

For starters, consider what type or types of materials the company uses. Each manufacturer may differ from one another, and not all plastic product manufacturers are going to utilize all types of materials for manufacturing plastic products. While some may utilize polyurethanes, others may use polyethylene terephthalate, polyamides (nylon), polyvinyl chloride, etc. There are many other common and special purpose plastic materials available, each suitable for specific purposes; hence, make sure the company you may decide to choose is able to recommend and handle the particular plastic material that you want for your products or parts.

The next thing to consider is the location of the plastic product manufacturer. If you are in the US, it is obvious to choose a plastic product manufacturing company in the US. There are several benefits of choosing a domestic company. It reduces the amount of time it takes to receive your products; it reduces the exorbitant shipping costs; it enables you to visit them personally; and so on. A domestic plastic manufacturer also provides quick turnaround when needed. Make sure to visit the manufacturing facility of the company; it will give you an idea about their capability.

Some plastic manufacturers also offer other services that may help you with your overall product design and development. The ancillary services that these plastic product manufacturing companies provide may assist in the development of a design that is going to be perfect for you and your product. Some companies may also help with product prototyping and testing to help you assess the viability of the product and see if any modifications are required. Finding such companies and working with them can certainly be worthwhile for you.

A number of inventors and businesses can benefit by teaming up with a reliable plastic product manufacturing company. These include medical, agriculture, sports equipment, transportation and retail to name a few. You have the option to choose a plastic product manufacturer that predominantly deals only in the manufacturing of plastic products or you can choose a company that, along with manufacturing, provides A-Z services ranging from product design and product prototype development to product enhancement and distribution.

If you are looking for a reliable plastic product manufacturing company in California, USA, which provides A-Z services, then GID Company is worth considering. With extensive industry experience, they provide exceptional product design, prototype creation, product development, plastic product manufacturing and other product fulfillment services. Call Patrick at 714.528.2482 8am to 5pm PST for a free consultation.